Supper
Atelier Bauer
Convolut of the exhibition 'Dammerstock-Siedlung. Die Gebrauchswohnung', Karlsruhe
1929
56 vintage gelatin silver prints by Adolf K. Fr. Supper. Each approx. 10.5 x 7.9 cm (11 x 8.5 cm). Each consecutively numbered and with detailed typewritten notes on the building on a label affixed to the verso, 5 prints additionally with photographer's stamp on the verso.
7 vintages, gelatin silver prints by Atelier Bauer, Karlsruhe. Each approx. 11 x 17 cm (12.7 x 17.5 cm). Each with photographer's stamp, consecutively numbered and detailed typewritten notes on the building and its interior design on a label affixed to the verso.
Original exhibition catalogue 'Dammerstock-Siedlung. Die Gebrauchswohnung' with softcover, designed by Kurt Schwitters. 20.9 x 29.9 cm, 63 pages.
Exhibition brochure, designed by Kurt Schwitters. 42 x 59 cm.
Typewritten letter, written by the Stadtoberbaurat of Karlsruhe, adressed to the 'Baurundschau' journal, and original envelope.
Further images on request.
In 1928, the town of Karlsruhe organised an urban building competition for a site south of the town. Contrary to standard practice, the linear development in a north to south orientation propagated by the architects of the German 'Neue Bauen' movement ('new building': a movement of German architects and town planners in the period before the First World War up to the time of the Weimar Republic) had already been specified within the tender documentation. Walter Gropius (Berlin) won the first prize with his design and established the development plan for the first construction stage. Together with the winner of the second prize, Otto Heasler (Celle), he developed the guidelines for the design of the buildings. By 1929 and with the assistance of other architects, 228 of the planned 750 apartments were completed, 30 of which were furnished with 'Typenmöbel' (standardized furniture) and opened to the public as part of the exhibition 'Dammerstock-Siedlung. Die Gebrauchswohnung' (the home for everyday use). The typographic design of all advertising media and printed products for the exhibition - posters, brochures, and leaflets right up to stationery - lay in the hands of the Merz artist Kurt Schwitters.
The photographs on offer here played an important role in the medial circulation of the aesthetic building concepts of the Dammerstock architects. The 'Dammerstocksiedlung', together with the major housing estates of Berlin, pertains to the most outstanding and most systematic examples of the 'Neue Bauen' architecture in Germany.